It’s no secret that I love books. After all, I write romances and it was the love of reading that led me to writing my own. You should see the bookcases in my office stuffed with everything from paperback to hardback. But maybe it would surprise you that I still buy books for my daughter? She’s a grown woman now and has her own tastes in reading material. She loves paranormals, probably after years of reading the Harry Potter Series and the host of copy-cat books that followed it.

But maybe it would surprise you that I still buy books for my daughter? She’s a grown woman now and has her own tastes in reading material. She loves paranormals, probably after years of reading the Harry Potter Series and the host of copy-cat books that followed it.

So after I bought a paranormal novel by a new author I wasn’t familiar with and really enjoyed it, I thought my daughter would too. I bought it for her as an eBook so she can read it on her app.

Gone are the days of heading to the bookstore and buying the book as a gift. Or even passing around a book you enjoyed. (I miss bookstores) But then again, I think I like this better. The author makes another sale. I buy the book as a gift online, and Amazon, Barns and Noble or whoever does the rest.

Inside the Book:

Sweet through sizzling collection of love stories includes contemporary, period, and historical romance, otherworldly romance, and romance with a touch of magic.

FOLLOW YOUR COWBOY HEART by Janice Seagraves
Max struggles daily to hide his psychic gift with animals. Being a hired hand at a local dairy probably wasn’t his best idea, but his mom needs the money he brings in. And there’s the dairy owner’s sexy daughter he can’t stop thinking about. Will he ever have anything other than himself to offer her?
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Excerpt:

“Max. I’ve been looking for you.” Linda took his hand, and an electrical sensation flowed up his arm. “Let’s step over here.”

“But I…”

“Only for a couple minutes. Your sisters can spare you that long.” She dragged him away to the Galloway’s backyard. The tall fence blocked off some of the noise from the party, giving them the illusion of privacy.

She pressed him against the fence and kissed him, hard. Surprise had him opening his mouth, but it also gave her entrance. Her tongue skimmed across his, and he was lost. He invaded her mouth, pursuing her. His placed his arms around her and pulled her against him, flattening her breasts against his chest. Desire spiraled through him.

She slowly pulled back and snuggled against his chest. “Wow. I always wondered what kissing you would be like.”

Rubbing her back, he noticed a little black bird in the tree limb above them. He whistled, and it cocked its head. He continued to mimic bird song, until the starling flew down and perched on his extended finger.

“How did you do that?” whispered Linda.

“It must be used to humans,” he lied. “Did you know starlings are better mimics then mocking birds?”

“No, I didn’t.” She smiled.

“What do you think of Linda?” he asked the bird. Forming what he wanted the starling to do in his mind.

Field trips are always fun, and this trip to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo is for my research for the book I’m currently working on. It’ll feature space aliens dating humans and this field trip is research for one of the dates.

***Since my birthday was yesterday that means a chance for free gift. Leave a comment with your email for a drawing for one of my hand decorated mini surfboards.***

1. Blue crested pigeon or simply Crested Pigeon. Yup, even though this bird in no way in shape or form looks like the common pigeon, it is one.2. Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

3. Pink and Gray Gala

4. Here’s someone trying to make a friend. I’m not sure what type of parrot this is.

5. A King parrot surveying his kingdom from his lofty perch.

I was disappointed that they didn’t have any lorikeets, I feature them in the second book of Windswept Shores (if I can ever get the thing polished enough to send out).

6. A lioness on a hand carved bench at the zoo.

7. Here we have the giraffes feeding station, where you can pay to feed the giraffes and for a couple of bucks more have a picture taken with them.

8. Fresno is hundreds of mile from the coast, yet here are some Harbor seals.

9. Lemurs

10. Black swan

11. This is the peacock that decided to take a leisurely stroll right through the outside eating area of the snack shack with a little boy trailing behind.

11. A bushy tailed squirrel that ate a discarded French fry

12. Oryx from Africa and parts of Arabia is actually a type of antelope.

13. Pink Flamingos are found in Africa, but they’re also found in the Bahamas.

Ah, you didn’t think I could link it in with my book, did you.

Windswept Shores Except:

“You’ve got some fruit on your face.” She peeked over her sunglasses so she could run her thumb over his chin, along his bottom lip. Their gaze met, but when the look in Seth’s gray eyes turned intense, Megan became uncomfortable.

That’s dumb. You never touch a man you’re not married to so intimately. Embarrassed she stepped away.

Seth sucked in his bottom lip, running his tongue over it, still watching her.

His eyes look like the coals when the fire burns down, but you know they’re still hot and will flare-up at any moment. She gave herself a mental shake. Damn, I’ve been staring into fires too long. Megan wandered over to a small stream trickling through the rocks to rinse her hands.

“Uh, Megz?”

“Yes.” She shook water off her hands.

“Thank you.”

“What for?” She glanced at him.

“I reckon I didn’t thank ya for the food and the clothes.” He plucked at his Hawaiian shirt, wrinkled from sleep and getting wet earlier. “Also fer putting me up last night.”

“You mean putting up with you?” She chuckled. “I’m sure you’d do the same for me.”

“Orright, mate, anything ya need, I’ll be there.” He picked up his pack. “Ready to go?”

She slung her backpack over her shoulders. “Yes.”

Seth climbed a boulder. He gave Megan a hand up, pulling her next to him. “The going will be a bit rough, stay close so you can call-out if you need help.”

“Okay.”

They made their way over the rocks. Shrubs tried to make a foothold along this barren area. The skeleton of the ones that didn’t make it were everywhere. Megan grabbed a bone-white branch for support, but it broke in her hands.

Seth held her steady. “Careful, mate, dry rot has set in.”

They climbed the ridge to a safer spot, but disturbed some nesting sea-birds. They squawked their alarm as they took wing.

Seth moved ahead to climb up on a boulder and gazed around with one hand shading his eyes. Megan stepped up beside him, and then he turned to her. “Megz, look there.” He pointed. “That’s my mate’s boat, but see, she’s got herself beached.” Rushing down the slope he jumped from rock to rock.

Megan watched him with raised eyebrows. He’s a kangaroo.

She hurried to catch-up, stepping down between two widely spaced boulders, loose rocks rolling under her feet. “Uh-oh.” Losing her balance, she grabbed a branch which broke, causing her to slip down a steep area. She tumbled into a dead bush, and felt a sharp pain in her right thigh. “Ouch,” she cried. “Seth, help!”

***Leave a comment with your email for a chance to win a free download of my depute book, Windswept Shores.***

In my book, Windswept Shores, I used a deserted island in the Bahamas to set the scene for my couple. I did a lot of research to describe it accurately. The island and the weather itself became almost a secondary character.

As for the rest of their adventures, I relied heavily on my own background to fill it in.

You see my dad loved to fish.

I mean he really loved to fish. This photo was taken back in the day when there was no limit on fish caught in a lake.

My dad fished all year round. But Easter week was the time for our little family to go on the first camping trip of the year.

On the Friday, the last day of school before Easter break, dad and mom would load up our car or truck (if we had one that year) and he’d hook up his boat (dad always had a fishing boat ), then dad would take us all camping.

We never knew where he’d take us. It could be someplace new or maybe an old favorite like Don Pedro Lake, but wherever it was it would be a place where he’d probably heard the fishing was really good. He’d also talked to fishermen to find out what the fish were hitting that season, since it did seem to change from year to year or season to season.

Dad also made his own lures, but he didn’t limit himself to their use. He had a big tackle box full of lures and, well, tackle. He also raised red worms and at one time he raised minnows too.

My dad caught so many fish that my mom, in self-defense, had to learn to cook them and got really good at fish frying . We ate so much fish that I thought I’d grow gills, lol.

Most of Windswept Shores revolves around my hero and heroine basically camping out on the beach. Which I got from my dad taking us camping and we camp along the shores of various lakes as I grew up. I was nearly born at a lake. My mom was very late in her pregnancy with me when he wanted to go fish and camping. My mom said no, but my dad was persistent. Luckily my mom won that argument.

My father’s gone now, he passed away in 1982 from colon cancer. I still miss him, but as a salute to my dad, I made, Seth, the Aussie hero in my story to be something of a fisherman. He’s also the first mate on the Dinki-Di before it got reefed.

Seth gestured to the boat. “I’ll prop the boat up a bit, then I’ll do it there. She’s got all the comforts of home on-board her. Even a generator so we can have the electrical going.”

“She?” Megan blinked up at him. “You’re referring to the boat as a female?”

“All boats are sheilas,” he told her. “That one there is the Dinki-Di.”

“Isn’t that an Aussie term?” she asked, wrinkling up her brow.

“It means ‘true blue.’”

“Oh-okay.” Every time I think I get a handle on his slang, he throws me a new one. Her gaze went to the white boat which had just a little light-blue on the trim. “True blue, but it’s not even blue?”

“It’s just an expression, luv. Like I’m a dinki-di, Aussie,” he said, pointing to himself.

“Okay, so it means the real deal?”

“That it does, mate.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I also gave Seth my dad’s dimples and my mom’s gray eyes. Mom is still with us though. 🙂

Excerpt, when Megan meets Seth:

She patted the side of his face. “Hey, are you okay?” That’s a dumb question. He isn’t okay.

“Hmm?” Gray eyes fluttered open. He stared at her a long moment, frowning slightly. “G’day.”

“Hello there.” She hated the sound of her voice. It sounded rusty, unused.

Abruptly he rolled away from her to heave onto the sand, making a loud, ugly retching noise.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then looked at her. “Sorry, mate, I swallowed too much sea.” His gaze went over her shoulder in the direction of the bonfire which crackled and popped not far from them. “Mite big for a barbie.”

Sitting back on her heels with her hands folded in her lap, Megan followed his gaze, then back to him. “My signal fire.”

“Signal for what?”

“Help.”

His accent intrigued her. Was he English or Australian?

“G’darn,” he looked around, “where the bloody hell am I?”

“Don’t know. There’s no one here to ask.” Megan shrugged helplessly, but couldn’t contain her curiosity. “Are you from England?”

“Naw,” he rubbed his eyes, “I hail from Sidney, but my port of call these days is Fort Lauderdale.” He blinked up at her. “You?”

Ah, he’s an Aussie. “I’m Megan Lorry, from Anaheim, California,” she said, barely loud enough to be heard above the sounds of the surf and the roar from the fire. “Are you a survivor of Air Bahamas flight 227, too?”

“G’day, Megz,” he answered, struggling to sit-up. “Sorry, I’m not from your plane.”

Megan slipped an arm around him lifting his back off the sand. Turning his head to her hair, he took in a couple of short breaths. Megan pulled back staring at him. “What the—did you just sniff me?”

“Ya smell too good not to.” He grinned, causing his cheeks to dimple. “Name’s Seth Dawson.” Leaning back on one arm, he stretched out his hand to her. She clasped it as if it was just a friendly greeting between strangers back home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Here’s an excerpt just after Seth caught a fish:

Megan wrapped her arms around his neck. Their gazes met, turning intense. She felt like she could drown in his warm gray eyes. He leaned in and pressed his full lips against hers. The kiss tingled, going right through her, making something lower down tighten and beg for attention.

He pulled back. “Miss me?”

Speechless, Megan nodded.

He set her down. “Look what I caught for our tea.” He threw open a built-in chest, pointing to a two foot long fish. “It’s called a Tarpon. They get a mite bigger. This one’s an ankle biter. Can you get a good fire going so we can barbie this wee fishy?”

“Sure, I can try, but the weather isn’t cooperating very much.”

“Do what ya can, then we’ll eat onboard the Dinki–Di.” He tossed her a lighter.

She caught it. “Okay, but I’ll need a boost to get back up.” She pointed to her campsite.

Scooping her up, he gave her a toss. Megan landed neatly on her feet next to the tree.

Giving him a startled glance over her shoulder, she said, “Are you going to do anymore amazing feats today, Mr. Seth?”

“I’m saving ‘em for later.” He smirked. “And it’s Mr. Dawson.”

“There isn’t anything dull about you,” Megan said without thought.

“Don’t say that yet, luv. It takes away from the expectations.”

“Expectations of what?”

“Show ya later.” He grinned devilishly, showing every tooth in his head.

“I had to open my big mouth,” she muttered. He’s back to flirting. But she found she had missed that, too.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

***Don’t forget to leave a comment with your email for a chance to win a free download of my depute book, Windswept Shores. The winning announcement will be held on April 9, 2012***

Follow Me

Year of the Cat (Paranormal/humor)

Haunted by the loss of his parents, werecat Jared Catterick earns his keep working for the Catclaw Clan. Jared has secrets that he doesn’t mind sharing with a special lady, and he hopes Morgan is that special someone. When his past and present collide it’s worse than he imagined, and he’s forced to fight for his life.

The Arcons build three colony ship to take them off their dying world. Only the chosen can come, the rest take their chances with the lottery. But one family cheats.

Alien Heart (Book 1 in the Chronicles of Arcon) (Sci-Fi Romance)

After a wonderful night of passion, Audrey finds herself far from home, impregnated and her life turned upside down.
Will she ever be able to leave the alien compound, see her son again, or get home in time to film the fall season of her Miz Fixit show?
But what's a girl to do with two aliens that smell like candy, and their kisses taste like it, too?

Matrix Crystal Hunters (Sci-Fi Romance)

Vach Namaste of the powerful Clan Namaste, a native of the planet, has desire the lovely Maya since she stepped off the spaceship on that astonishing day a year ago. He’s hounded her every step since. As Hymeneal Night approaches, he makes plans to take her as his bride… willing or not.

Matrix Crystal Christmas (Sci-Fi Romance)

In Crystal Flower Christmas: Vach and Maya are on a mission to undam the Laonooco River for the drought stricken region. As heartache fractures their marriage, will the gift of a crystal flower mend their relationship or break it beyond repair?
In Crystal Clear Christmas: Plague has struck the village of Zama and the citizens blame the only human left on Zenevieva, Maya. Will Vach make the ultimate sacrifice to save his wife?

Matrix Crystal River (Sci-Fi Romance)

After twenty-five years, the Earthlings were back. River Namaste swears he'll never help the humans find matrix crystals, until he meets, Winona Miracle, Team Alpha Six's geologist. Shy and vulnerable, the black haired, dark eyed beauty is all he wants.
But is she ready to put aside her goals for him?

Matrix Crystal Rebels (Sci-fi Romance)

Earth geologist Steen’s mission is to look and act like a Zeeman so he can locate matrix crystals. But when Steen’s deception fails, the beautiful Rain Namaste coaches him. He doesn’t realize he’s fallen in love with the lovely redhead until someone tries to claim her on Hymeneal Night.
Steen will do anything to get Rain back, but is he willing to take her as a Hymeneal bride for himself?

Windswept Shores (Contemporary Romance/Suspense)

Two strangers wash up on the same windswept shores. Will they survive and can they fall in love?

Windswept Shores Two (Contemporary Romance/Suspense)

Megan and Seth are finally rescued off their little island, but things are far from idyllic. Seth is arrested for murder, and Megan is order to return home to her philandering husband who is somehow still alive. Will they ever get back together again or see the life they envisioned?